Pocono Mountain Regional Police gender discrimination case on trial

SCRANTON — A former Pocono Mountain Regional Police officer testified Tuesday about how the department discriminated against her because she is a woman.

Debra Hartley, an officer from 1998 to 2003, filed a 2004 lawsuit against the police department that finally went to trial this week in federal court.

Hartley says the department:• Did not give her backup as it did with similarly situated male officers.• Gave her a less consistent shift schedule than it did to similarly senior or less senior male officers.• Gave her far fewer weekends off than similarly senior or less senior male officers.• Required her to perform more diverse duties than similarly positioned male officers.• Subjected her to unfounded disciplinary charges.• Handled disciplinary charges against her in such a way as to deprive her of the right to respond.

Hartley raised her concerns to her superiors at the department, but those concerns were never addressed. She was retaliated against by being subjected to unfounded complaints about her performance, having her efforts undermined in the workplace and having her job threatened, according to the lawsuit.

After she brought these issues to the attention of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission in May 2003, the department constructively discharged her two months later.

On Tuesday, Hartley testified also to the following:• The department put her on another shift based on unfounded rumors that she wasn’t backing up fellow officers on calls.• She was denied certain training accessible to male officers.• Superior-ranking officers condoned false accusations against her by refusing to see if those accusations were true. Chief John Lamberton refused to address her concerns and she found no help through other channels with airing her grievances.• She witnessed male officers viewing pornography and having sexually based conversations about women that made her uncomfortable.• She was chastised for being late one day after explaining she had to take her son to the doctor and then got detoured in traffic. She was told, “You won’t get any special treatment just because you’re a woman.” Male officers were not chastised if they were late.• On at least one occasion, she and other female officers were called in from their patrols to answer phones, but the same was never required of male officers.• Another superior-ranking officer once told her, “You have to deal with this from a man’s perspective because this is a man’s job.”When asked why she stayed as long she did, Hartley said, “I’d worked very hard to get where I was. I had commitments. Just dropping everything and walking away would have sent the wrong message. I wanted to tie up all loose ends.”

The commitments she referred to included active ongoing investigations, the Drug Awareness, Resistance and Education program and working with school children.

The defense called Officer Charles LaRue, who at times worked with Hartley, to refute her testimony. LaRue said he does not recall any of what Hartley is alleging taking place.

He recalled once reporting Hartley to a superior officer for not drawing her gun when they entered a building on an open-door alarm call. The trial is expected to last the rest of this week.

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